There are many prior art devices in the field of winding and reeling directed to the winding and unwinding of elongate materials such as cables, wires, lines, hoses etc. onto a reel for storage. For example, in the fishing reel art numerous prior art designs are known for level winding fishing line onto a reel and other designs are known for preventing backlash, pinching of the line and the like.
Also, many prior art devices are known for winding, unwinding and rewinding fluid hoses. Several examples of known fluid hose reels include garden hose reels, hose reels used on trucks which deliver fuel oil, fire hose reels on firetrucks, and the reels used for storing the water hose on sewer cleaning machines.
Level winding of hoses is only one problem which is discussed in the prior art. In hose reels used for storing fire hoses, for example, devices have been developed which permit the hose to be inflated with water under pressure while it is still on the hose reel. Without such a pressure compensating system the hose could pinch during unwinding and cause potentially serious delays at a fire. A device of this type is disclosed in Manahan's U.S. Pat. No. 2,777,646, issued Jan. 15, 1957 for an "Expansible-Contractable Hose Reel."
A typical level winding apparatus for fluid hoses is described in Gear's U.S. Pat. No. 2,301,208 issued Nov. 10, 1942 for "Hose Reel Apparatus." In this device a hose guide member travels back and forth over a worm gear as winding or unwinding of the hose progresses. While this type of device aids in level winding, it is not entirely satisfactory in solving backlash problems and is relatively complex from both operational and manufacturing standpoints. The device of the Gear patent is particularly well suited for use on tank vehicles employed for delivering fuel oil, gasoline, and the like.
Sewer cleaning devices have certain specific problems which require additional considerations in selecting an appropriate hose and reel combination. One known type of sewer cleaning machine includes a truck, a water tank (or a system for connecting the vehicle to a source of water, e.g. to a water hydrant), a hose and reel, a sewer cleaning nozzle connected to the end of the hose and pump means for forcing water under pressure through the nozzle. The nozzle can be selected from many different designs, but one commonly used type of nozzle includes rearwardly directed openings which create water jets when the water is forced through the hose. The jets develop sufficient force to drive the nozzle into a sewer lateral and in turn pull the hose into the lateral to wash debris therefrom into a catch basin. The water jets also dislodge accumulations of debris from within the sewer lines.
The hose commonly employed in sewer cleaning machines is about 11/2 inches O.D. and may be several hundred feet long. Power drive means are provided for winding the hose on the reel and some machines also include hydraulic drive systems for feeding the hose into the catch basin. In addition to piling up and pinching of the hose, occurrences which are common in other types of hose carrying vehicles, this type of equipment can develop another related problem if the sewer cleaning nozzle is halted on its journey through a sewer line by an obstruction, such as a root or a piece of broken sewer pipe. The problem results in the hose continuing to flow from the hose reel during the time it takes for the machine operator to realize that the nozzle progress has been impeded and to stop the machine. The slack created in the hose can lead to loops falling off the reel into the drive gears of the hose drive system.
Manufacturers of sewer cleaning equipment have developed certain devices for solving the pile up and pinching problems. For example, Prange's U.S. Pat. No. 3,774,630 issued Nov. 27, 1973 for "Mobile Sewer or Like Cleaning Machine" describes a hose guide roller for permitting the use of narrow width, large diameter drums for the water hose. The roller insures that the hose is centered over the middle of the narrow reel. A simple hose guide roller of this type however does not solve the aforementioned problem of hose loops developing if unreeling continues while the nozzle at the end of the hose is obstructed. A hose reel apparatus which solves this and other related hose winding and unwinding problems would be a significant advance in this technology.